It's the Tug Urger's Anniversary; Let's Get Her Back in the Water!
Photo by Kathy Polino
This month marks the 120th anniversary of the Tug Urger's launching. Help us celebrate the Urger by adding your best wishes for her return to the water.
Launched in 1901, the Urger entered canal service in New York in 1922. For more than 60 years, she moved barges, dredges, and derrick boats on the Erie and Champlain canals. Retired from heavy work in 1986, she returned to active service in 1991 as an ambassador for New York’s Canal System, calling at ports from New York City to the Canadian border and west to Lake Erie. She was the traveling centerpiece for countless canal festivals and events across the state and hosted over 100,000 students on school field trips during a 25-year period. She has been listed on the National Register since 2001, and is one of the oldest operable tugboats in the country.
The New York Power Authority pulled the Urger from service in 2018 and she now sits in drydock. The League has been advocating for her restoration and return to the water ever since. To mark this anniversary, help us by wishing the Urger a happy birthday — and let NYPA and our NYS legislators know how important it is to preserve her.
Click here to sign the card and add your comments!
The Tugboat Urger: Ancient Mariner of the Barge Canal
Get a glimpse at a seminal moment in the Urger's history thanks to this article in Sea History from 1991 — when she made her transition to a teaching tug!